Eight of 11 petitions that were taken out by those considering a run for Crested Butte Town Council have been returned. It appears there will be a race for the three open council seats as well as for the mayor’s position.

Two people will be vying for the top job. Current mayor Aaron Huckstep is seeking a second term as mayor, while Jeremy Rubingh has tossed his hat into the ring to lead the Town Council.On the council side, incumbents Jim Schmidt and Roland Mason are asking to be reelected to their council seats. They will face competition from newcomers Josh Schumacher, Chris Ladoulis and Danica Ramgoolam. Former councilperson Reed Betz has also filed a petition to get on the ballot for a council seat.The next step is for town clerk Shelley Jansen to gather the candidates sometime next week and draw names to determine the order on the official ballot. The ballot must be submitted to the county by September 6. Until that date, any of the potential candidates can withdraw from the race and not have his or her name on the ballot.The county will then mail out the ballot with the council election to qualified voters between October 11 and October 18. Those ballots must be mailed back to the county elections office or returned to the physical office by Tuesday, November 5.The Crested Butte News will be asking the candidates about their political views, hopes, dreams and whacky pet names in the weeks leading up to the election. A forum will also be scheduled for a date in October so the citizens can put them on the hot seat in person. But that is still many weeks away, so go track down the candidates, make them buy you a drink and grill them in private until then.